February 2007 Hard Drive Price Guide - Page 4

Serial ATA Hard Drive Value

Just as in the previous PATA chart, we are also taking a close look at our Serial ATA drives and determining exactly which models and capacities offer the best overall value. We do this through the tried-and-true method of determining hard drive value, or "price per GB", which is then used as a sorting criteria to ensure the best $/GB deals rise to the top. Of course, no method is foolproof, and other factors like performance or features certainly come into play, but it does give us a different view on which brands, speeds and capacities offer the best bang for the buck.

The Serial ATA value chart breaks away from the trend we saw in the PATA listings, and the upward movement of higher-capacity SATA drives continues to be the biggest news. The 400GB and 500GB models are still working their way up, and although the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB drive is mathematically the top SATA value, both the Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB and Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB effectively tie it at 28-cents per GB. In addition to the Samsung 500GB drive, other larger models in the top ten list include the Samsung SpinPoint T133 400GB, Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB & 500GB, Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB, and Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500GB models. The five Western Digital Raptor models are at their usual position at the bottom of the chart, as this line of high-end 10K RPM drives has always been concerned with pure performance and reliability, not value.

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